Battle Royale: The Final Bout
by Bubblegum Thai
Summary: A Battle Royale fic. The latest class is thrust into the BR act...as friends turn against one another, will anyone have the courage and will power to stand up and fight back against the government?
1. Welcome To Your Worst Nightmare!

Sorry, but, I don't really own Battle Royale, the movie/novel/manga, that this fanfic is based upon. It belongs to . . . uh . . . what's the guys name once again? I forget already! ::smacks forehead:: It belongs to . . . insert name here. Well, it doesn't belong to me! That's for sure! Kinji Fuksaku! That's his name, may he rest in peace.  
  
I am currently obsessed with Battle Royale. I really should invest in the Novel as I'm a HUGE fan of the first movie (haven't seen the 2nd yet) and I just got given the first three mangas yesterday, which I finished reading today and thoroughly enjoyed! They were good! Anyways, This is based on a combination of my knowledge from the aforementioned. I hope that you all enjoy my totally twisted ideas of violent fun!  
  
Please read and review, Battle Royale brought me out of fiction retirement!  
  
Battle Royale: The Final Bout.  
  
By Bubblegum Thai.  
  
Prologue. Welcome to your worst nightmare.  
  
"Suguru! Hey! Suguru! Wait up!"  
  
Suguru Kamazaki stopped dead in his tracks, a small smile tugging on his lips as the soft patter of feminine feet galloped up behind him. His hand tightened lightly on the strap of his satchel and soon, a delicate hand was placed on his upper arm gently,  
  
"Good morning, Suguru." Said a gentle voice as a shorter girl appeared at his side,  
  
"Heya, Yukiko." He greeted with a warm smile and short nod, "I wondered where you were, I've been waiting forever."  
  
"I'm sorry," She murmured, bowing her head, "Mother needed my help this morning."  
  
"Oh," Suguru bit his lower lip slightly, rubbing the back of his head nervously "How is she this morning?"  
  
Yukiko shrugged, focussing on her feet as the pair began to head down the street once again,  
  
"Alright, I suppose." She said with a heavy sigh, "As good as can be expected, y'know?"  
  
"Mm." Suguru nodded in understanding, "Yeah . . ."  
  
They fell into silence once again before Yukiko suddenly brightened,  
  
"I saw the game last night, Suguru! You were great!" Yukiko beamed, "All the girls were cheering for you!"  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yes! Couldn't you hear them?"  
  
Suguru blushed a deep shade of crimson, shaking his head shyly,  
  
"I guess that I was so wrapped up in the game that I couldn't hear!"  
  
"I cheered for you." Yukiko said quietly,  
  
"Huh?" Suguru looked at her, his mouth open, "Really?"  
  
"Of course! You're my best friend!"  
  
"Oh . . . yeah . . . silly me!" He slapped his forehead, blushing yet again before quickly scrambling to change the subject, "The programme starts tomorrow, huh?"  
  
"Yeah . . ." Yukiko smiled faintly, "I don't watch it though."  
  
"Don't you? How come?"  
  
Yukiko shrugged,  
  
"My parents won't let me." She sighed, brushing back a few loose raven- coloured ringlets, "They never really explained why."  
  
"Oh," He shrugged, "Some people just don't like it, I guess."  
  
"Hmmm." Yukiko mused quietly, turning a corner with the taller boy, his spiky hair causing flame shaped shadows on the pavement in front of them, "Sorry I made you late, Suguru."  
  
"It's alright. We're not too bad off. Akito will be pissed, but," Suguru trailed off, shrugging, "But I'm sure that someone will keep him occupied."  
  
"Someone . . .?" Yukiko smirked, "I won't pry . . ." She continued, wisely, holding up a finger as they turned yet another corner,  
  
"Hi guys!" Called a tall, slender female with long, flowing auburn hair and bright sapphire blue eyes,  
  
"Good morning, Paige." Yukiko giggled, running up to the American teenager with great enthusiasm,  
  
"Hey Yukiko! How're you?"  
  
"I'm good. Sorry we're late."  
  
"That's alright. I'm in no hurry."  
  
"Cool."  
  
"Heya Suguru." Paige smiled, tilting her head to one side, "Good game last night."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
Yukiko began to straighten her black blazer, smiling softly at her friends,  
  
"Oh yes . . . Paige, how'd it go with Kensuke last night?" Yukiko giggled, nudging the Westerner in the ribs slightly with a wink, "Did you have 'fun'?"  
  
Paige raised an eyebrow,  
  
"We're going to be late."  
  
Yukiko grinned and began to bounce up and down as she headed down the street towards the crossing,  
  
"What're you so happy about?" Paige asked as he and Suguru followed the energetic young girl,  
  
"Have you forgotten already you nitwit?"  
  
"Forgotten what?"  
  
"The trip you idiot!"  
  
"OH! Yeah . . . I did forget . . . it just, didn't seem that important to me!"  
  
"Our graduation trip? Not important?!" Yukiko stopped, mid bounce and glowered at the auburn-haired girl, "You're weird, Paige."  
  
"I know."  
  
"I can't believe you except that!"  
  
"Sorry to break it to you, Yuki, but . . . it just doesn't seem that important to me . . ."  
  
Yukiko shook her head and looked at Suguru,  
  
"You're excited, right?"  
  
"A little."  
  
"You guys are boring! I'm going to go find someone else who's excited!" She growled and bounded off down the street, leaving the two in her dust.  
  
Paige sighed and turned to Suguru, smiling,  
  
"You know why she's so over-excited, right?"  
  
"No. Why?"  
  
"Oh, c'mon! You're supposed to be her best friend, how can you not know?!"  
  
"I'm sorry." Suguru responded stiffly, "I don't know."  
  
"Her parents originally wouldn't let her go."  
  
"What?!" Suguru frowned, "Why? That's ridiculous."  
  
Paige shrugged,  
  
"I don't know . . . she said that they said something about her sister and refused. After awhile, they slowly came around, but . . . oh, I don't know . . . Yukiko's parents aren't really very . . . normal, are they?"  
  
Suguru smiled weakly,  
  
"No, they're not." He sighed, "Yukiko's sister died when we were little. They never really told Yuki how and why . . ."  
  
"Oh,"  
  
"But, her family were really close and happy . . . and then . . . one day, Noriko just never came home. Her parents told her that she died in a school accident. But, her mother's never been the same since. She flipped out . . . went completely nuts and, well . . ."  
  
"I see." Paige sighed heavily.  
  
- - -  
  
It was dark as the large coach sped down the highway. Suguru sat beside another boy, his hair came down to his shoulders and was pulled back into a loose ponytail, streaks of reddish-blonde becoming visible and disappearing again in the flashing street lights,  
  
"Hey, Shinji," Suguru sighed heavily, "How much longer do you think that we're gonna be on here?"  
  
"Ages." Shinji replied, huffing, "We've only been on this thing 20 minutes."  
  
"I hate coaches."  
  
"So I gathered." Shinji chuckled, raising an eyebrow, "Hey, Yukiko! Suguru is complaining already!"  
  
"Already?!" Yukiko turned around from her seat in front of the pair, narrowing her eyes at the pair of them, "Ami! Suguru is complaining already!"  
  
"Oh, jeeze!" Ami rolled her eyes, sighing, "Why'd he even come?"  
  
"Now, hang on!" Suguru growled,  
  
"That's a bit harsh, Ami!" Shinji chuckled, "Poor Suguru here, doesn't know what to do now two of the cutest girls in class think he's an ass."  
  
"HEY!" Suguru growled once again,  
  
"Sorry, man."  
  
The small group broke out into fits of laughter, whilst near the back of the class, Paige sat with another small group of girls, all occupying the entire back row. Time passed and sleep began to claim all 40 class members of 9A.  
  
When they awoke, it was cold and dark. Silence was broken by confused murmurs and moans,  
  
"Yukiko?" Ami whispered, clawing her way to her feet, rubbing her head, "My head hurts Yuki . . ."  
  
"Me too . . ." Yukiko mumbled, dazed as she stood, shakily, "Is everyone alright? What happened?"  
  
"Cut the leadership stuff, alright, Nakagawa!" A snide girl snapped from a far corner, "Who do you think you are, anyway?"  
  
"I was just asking . . ."  
  
"HEY! Don't talk to her like that, Ai!" Paige jumped to Yukiko's defence, "She was only being nice!"  
  
"Where do you get off giving ME a lecture, new girl?!"  
  
"Break it up, girls!"  
  
"Don't get in my way, Takahashi!" Ai growled, marching forwards,  
  
"Kensuke . . ." Paige whispered as he stood in front of her protectively, "You don't have to stand up for me, y'know . . ."  
  
"I know." She grinned slightly, taking her hand and giving it a gentle squeeze, "Just back down Ai, it's easy to start on people when you're confused, but, just back off of them, alright?"  
  
"Whatever."  
  
"Thanks." Paige whispered again,  
  
"No problem." He beamed. Suddenly the lights snapped on and the class of forty whirled around to face the doorway, where their teacher Mr. Sato entered briskly, followed by two men carrying machine guns both wearing military uniforms,  
  
"Good morning, class 9A."  
  
The entire class remained silent,  
  
"What's going on? Where the hell are we?" Ai finally said, placing her hands firmly on her hips, "What kind of games are you playing?"  
  
"Very good, Miss Takami. One game in particular. A very special game. Tell me, have any of you ever heard of the BR act . . .?"  
  
The entire class reflected a blank look at their teacher who began to rub his temples in aggravation,  
  
"Alright then, The Programme, anyone?"  
  
Everyone gasped and hushed whispers began,  
  
"NO TALKING!" He yelled, slamming his first on the large heavy oak desk at the front of the classroom, "You all should know my rules by now." He sighed, shaking his head, "I won't tell you twice." Everyone blinked, their faces turning white,  
  
"P . . . P . . . please sir . . ." A small girl with short black hair and large dark eyes began,  
  
"Ah yes! Yurika Tokita! What is it? C'mon girl! Spit it out already!"  
  
"Are . . . are you trying to tell us that we're in . . . in the . . . The Programme?"  
  
All eyes focussed on Mr. Sato who grinned wickedly,  
  
"That's exactly what I'm saying."  
  
The class was sent into uproar, one girl, Tomoyo Suzahara collapsed in shear terror whilst her friends all burst into tears, all except for Paige who looked around, frowning, confused beyond belief.  
  
The boys all balled their fists, beginning to curse loudly, Kensuke pulled away from Paige, muttering dark thoughts as he began to advance towards Mr. Sato,  
  
"Kensuke!" Suguru exclaimed, darting forwards and grabbing Kensuke's arms as he lunged towards the older man,  
  
"BASTARD!" He screamed, struggling against Suguru,  
  
"Shinji, help me!"  
  
Shinji was frozen in spot, he soon snapped out of it and dived forwards, struggling against Kensuke, who's scruffy ebony hair scraped lightly against his cheek. Shinji pulled back on Kensuke's arms, trying to control and restrict his movements.  
  
Mr. Sato raised a scruffy, greying eyebrow and snorted,  
  
"Kensuke Takahashi . . ." He chuckled, moving forwards and gently brushing stray strands of spiked hair from his cheek, "I remember when you first came to the school . . . so intent on making an impression . . . getting in with the 'in' crowd . . ."  
  
"I NEVER cared about that shit! NEVER!" Kensuke screamed, spitting into Mr. Sato's eye, "You bastard! You can't do this to us! WE NEVER DID ANYTHING WRONG!"  
  
"Wrong?" Mr. Sato seemed to ponder the notion, "What IS wrong these days?" Mr. Sato backed up and took a somewhat comfortable seat on the desk top, "You kids today . . . think you're all so tough? Fighting in the streets. Back chatting your parents . . . swearing at your teachers . . ." His thin lips twisted into a tight smirk as he began to tug at his tie, slinging it onto the floor, "No. More." He continued carefully, "Someone needs to show you little animals what civilisation is all about!"  
  
"WE'RE INNOCENT!" One girl screamed, tears streaming down her cheeks, her hands clenched into tight fists. Her hair was pulled down into ponytails that trailed down her torso over her ears,  
  
"You think your innocent, Reiko?" He snorted, "Is anyone truly innocent anymore?"  
  
"YOUR'E FUCKED UP!" Another boy yelled,  
  
"Ryouji, so glad that you could join the conversation. I was wondering when the class clown was going to make his input!"  
  
Ryouji furrowed his brow as he stumbled back at a loud, thundering sound,  
  
"Ah, that'll be the demonstration!" The ageing teacher declared as four soldiers wheeled in a huge entertainment unit, complete with large screen TV, "Boys and girls . . . I think that you'll find this demonstration most helpful."  
  
"What are you talking about now . . .?" Kensuke, who was now on the floor beneath Suguru and Shinji questioned,  
  
"Just sit STILL and watch the DAMN video, alright?!" He growled, pressing a button firmly on the remote control,  
  
"Good morning 9A!" A bouncy, bubbly young girl, aged in her late teens popped onto the screen wearing a mini-skirt in combat pattern and a black tank top. She had a microphone fastened to her head, "You're this year's LUCKY class to be chosen for 'The Programme'!" She began to clap enthusiastically, an overly happy grin plastered on her face, "I'm sure that you all know the rules by now . . . but let's just run through them one more time to make sure that all those 'un-cool' people are up to speed with everything!" At this point, she flicked back a stray strand of hair from her face so that it joined the rest, cascading down her back in long, thick ringlets, "It's simple really! The first rule is kill . . . or be killed! All members of the class must kill each other until only one survivor remains!" She held out her right index finger to the camera to indicate 'one', "You will ALL be given a pack, which'll contain two bottles of water, a loaf of bread, a map of the island and weapon. You might get lucky . . ." She grinned at this point, reaching into a military bag and producing a pistol, "Wow! This'll come in handy!" She exclaimed, aiming it at the camera and closing one eye. She giggled, pulling it back and dropping it onto the counter, "Only joking! I wouldn't wanna ruin your fun!" She smirked slightly, pointing to a screen behind her, "As well as your pack, you'll also be aloud to take your own personal bag with you. Now, here is the island that you're all on right now! It's kinda small . . . sorry . . . but your class is a bit smaller than average, so we figured, what the heck?! So . . . yes . . . on the map that you'll be given, the island will be divided by a grid. You'll be free to move about these areas if they're not designated as danger zones. Your teacher, Mr. Sato will be designating your danger zones at regular intervals . . . they will frequently change locations, so watch out! You are all wearing brand new collars! Do you like them?! Oh, I hope that you do!" She oozed sarcasm as she leant forwards with her hands clasped together under her chin, "They will monitor your life signs . . . if you're caught in a danger zone then BANG! Bye, bye kiddies!" She waved at the screen, pouting slightly, "Also . . . if there is more than one survivor after three days, all remaining collars will be detonated by your teacher and no one will win! So don't go getting any funny ideas!" She chuckled, wagging her finger at the camera, "Well . . . happy hunting!" As a final gesture, she blew a kiss towards the crowd and the screen turned blank. Mr. Sato leisurely stood, his back aching as he climbed to his feet from the desk top, turned the TV off and motioned towards the doorway where four soldiers began to wheel in a huge stack of bags similar to the one that had been on the video,  
  
"Here are your packs." He muttered, snatching a clipboard from one soldier, "I will call you, one by one, at two minute intervals in order of your class number."  
  
"P . . .please sir . . ." Paige began, standing shakily on her own in the middle of the dark room, her black pleated skirt dusty from sitting on the floor, "I don't understand . . . I've never heard of the programme . . . is this some sort of sick joke?"  
  
"Miss Stevenson, please look at your fellow class members," He sighed heavily. Paige did as she was told, turning in a full circle and looking at the faces that surrounded her. Tears streamed down girls' cheeks. Boys' eyes were wide with fear. Some were gritting their teeth and balling their fists, others were blank, dazed and confused. She continued to turn until she faced Mr. Sato once again, "Do they look like this is a joke?"  
  
Paige shook her head slowly, sniffling quietly,  
  
"No . . ."  
  
"Then, it isn't a joke, is it?"  
  
"No . . ." She whispered hoarsely, lowering her head, "No, what?!"  
  
"No . . . sir . . ."  
  
"Good girl." He chuckled before clearing his throat, "Now, let's begin!" Returned some papers over, clicking his tongue against his cheek before making a small, satisfied noise, "Right, here we go; Boys #1, Masaru Hijikata."  
  
A boy at the front stepped forwards. His face was blank, but his dark, chocolate coloured eyes narrowed into thin slits,  
  
"Masaru!" A girl with strait, shoulder length hair gasped, darting forwards. He turned to her and smiled softly, nodding ever so gently,  
  
"See ya soon, Hikaru." He said before turning back and catching his pack, bending down, he grabbed his bag and began to jog out of the doorway.  
  
Yukiko watched as he friend, the most popular boy in school ran out first to face his almost certain death,  
  
"Girls #1, Mari Aiida."  
  
"A short, skinny girl with large, thin rimmed glasses stood, wiping her eyes on her sleeve as she lifted her glass, she walked slowly towards the soldiers. She caught her pack with effort and threw it onto her back before leaning down, sobbing to pick up her bag, she seemed to be weighed down as she scuttled from the room, her wails could be heard all down the hall,  
  
"Boys #2, Tadashi Hiraga."  
  
Time passed and more students were called out. Yukiko was in a daze until;  
  
"Boys #4, Suguru Kamazaki."  
  
She looked up as Suguru stood, sending her a warm, wary smile down from his towering height. She blinked as she watched him saunter towards the soldier who threw his pack into his stomach. Suguru caught it with ease, snatched up his bag, slung them onto his shoulder, pressed his fingers to his lips, blew a kiss at the group still remaining and called out,  
  
"I'll see you all soon enough." He beamed, "Good luck."  
  
He disappeared around the corner,  
  
"Girls #4, Satsuki Chiba."  
  
One girl stood and so did another,  
  
"Yurika!" Satsuki gasped as the second girl hugged the first,  
  
"Satsuki . . ." She breathed, squeezing her friend tight, "Friends forever. Never hurt one another. Promise."  
  
"I promise, Yurika." Satsuki whispered, clasping her friend's hands in her own.  
  
Satsuki left and more names were called out,  
  
"Girls #8, Yukiko Nakagawa."  
  
The large group from which Suguru had departed from all turned and looked at Yukiko who was sitting on the edge of their close circle. Yukiko stood to her feet with determination in her eyes,  
  
"I'm off to find Suguru, Masaru and Hikaru." She said casually as she moved towards the large soldier who thrust her pack towards her head. She grabbed her bag, waved at everyone before turning, glowering at Mr. Sato and running off down the hall into the night of the island. She began running down the main path as fast as she could, her eyes darting in all directions in search for her friends.  
  
- - - To be continued . . .  
  
Man oh man! If that's hoe long my prologue was, can you imagine the chapters that I'm gonna have to uphold! Yipes! Ah well . . . I hope that you liked this . . . it's my first attempt at what will be serious, hardcore violence! ::grins::  
  
So . . . yes . . . please lemme know what you think! 


	2. Let The Games Begin!

I don't own Battle Royale. I told you last time, damnit!  
  
Hiya again! Many thanks to GinyuBrick! It's so nice to know that at least one person liked what I put a lot of effort into! I'll finish it just because I know that at least you'll read it!  
  
Battle Royale: The Final Bout.  
  
By Bubblegum Thai.  
  
Chapter One. Let the games begin!  
  
It's hard to believe that, as I run down an uneven path, in the pitch black, faced with the string possibility that I'll lose my life within the next 72 hours, all I can think about is what I was doing yesterday.  
  
Does that make me a freak?  
  
I keep thinking about yesterday . . . I could've been nicer to my brother, now that I think about it. He was being a pain though. I wonder what my parents think. I bet mum's crying and I bet Dad's hit the vodka . . . he's probably on his fifth glass already . . . my brother will come home from work early . . . I wonder if . . . if this is what went through Noriko's mind . . .? All this stuff . . .  
  
At least she had Nanahara.  
  
They think I don't know that she cheated the BR act . . . that she's wanted for murder! But, I do. Of course I do! I'm not stupid! I wonder how she is . . . I wonder if she'll cry when they read my name out on the TV. I wonder if she escaped Japan. If she did, does she even know . . . does she even remember?  
  
"Yukiko!"  
  
- - -  
  
Yukiko skidded along the dirt path, falling over onto all fours, trying to get her balance on her palms,  
  
"Masaru!" She gasped, grinning at Boys #1, Masaru Hijikata,  
  
"Where's Hikaru?" He asked,  
  
"I don't know . . . sorry . . . I was looking for you."  
  
"Me."  
  
"Mmmm hmmm." Yukiko nodded, "And Suguru, and Hikaru."  
  
"I haven't seen Suguru. What weapon you got?"  
  
"I don't know," Yukiko sighed as she shrugged, "I haven't looked yet . . . I just ran."  
  
"Oh." Masaru smiled warmly, "C'mon . . . there's the old Primary school over here . . . its set back a way from the main road . . . good place to hide out, don't ya think?"  
  
Yukiko shrugged, but followed regardless,  
  
"You should condense your bags into one. Dispose of anything that you don't need."  
  
"Like my maths textbook?"  
  
"Yeah . . . if you like . . ." Masaru shrugged, as if he didn't care and Yukiko glowered at his back. Although he was her friend, Masaru had this nasty habit of being perfect at everything he did. Suguru used to tease him for it, "But don't forget to dispose of everything that you ditch, Yuki, someone who comes along after us will know that we've been there and will track us."  
  
"We could burn it." Yukiko suggested.  
  
Masaru stopped and whirled around, glaring at her,  
  
"Are you stupid?!" He fumed, "That would be an excellent idea!" He declared sarcastically, "Send up huge smoke signals to let everyone know our position."  
  
"I'm sorry . . . I'm not thinking strait!" She murmured shyly,  
  
"Whatever." He grumbled, rolling his eyes,  
  
"Masaru-kun, are you alright?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Oh . . . alright then . . ."  
  
The pair walked in silence up the narrow path through trees, the moonlight providing little lamination for their course, but eventually they found the deserted school, its main door hanging off its hinges, threatening to fall at any second. Yukiko followed Masaru through, into the first classroom, which was dark and had wooden flooring. The desks were pushed up against the large side windows and the teacher's heavy desk had also been pushed up against the blackboard. Masaru hovered over it, tipping his bag out onto it and sifting through his personal belongings carefully,  
  
"Are those pictures of Hikaru . . .?" Yukiko asked tentatively as she peeked over his shoulder,  
  
"Yeah . . ." He answered softly, slipping them into his inside blazer pocket, "You got any pictures?" He asked after several long seconds of silence,  
  
"Oh, yeah, I do." Yukiko answered in surprise, digging into her school bag and retrieving her diary. She popped open the clasp and pulled out a small stack from an inside pocket,  
  
"Hey, that's me." Masaru grinned, pointing at a group picture which was all boys,  
  
"Yeah . . . Paige wanted that one . . . so I made her a copy, but kept one for myself . . ."  
  
"I wonder if this is what everyone who plays this game does."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Go all nostalgic, pull out photos and sit with them . . ."  
  
"Maybe," Yukiko tilted her head to one side as she began to move through her bag, picking up small items and putting them to one side,  
  
"What weapon do you have?"  
  
Yukiko pulled out a butcher's knife, her eyes wide,  
  
"Yikes!" She exclaimed,  
  
"You could do a lot of damage with that!" Masaru commented, eyeing her suspiciously,  
  
"Masaru . . . that isn't funny!"  
  
"Weren't you listening to what Mr. Sato said?!" Masaru asked, frowning at her, "This is for real, Yukiko!"  
  
"W . . . what did you get, Masaru?"  
  
Masaru shrugged half heartedly, before snorting,  
  
"This . . ." He whispered, handing her a small bottle of poison, "You'd think that they'd give me something better! I do deserve it!"  
  
Yukiko frowned,  
  
"They don't care about social merit here, Masaru." She scolded, "And you know that I never cared for that shit, either!" She snapped, narrowing her eyes,  
  
"Whatever. We should probably leave. Go deeper into the island before others find us. Then we can rest."  
  
"What about the others . . .?"  
  
Masaru looked at her, a blank look screaming at her wearily,  
  
"Let's just move, alright . . ."  
  
"But I wanna find the others!" She whined,  
  
"Fine!" He growled, "Then you can stay here!" He snatched up his bag and marched off in a huff, Yukiko sighed, dropping to her knees, "It's dark in here . . ." She whispered to no one, "I wish they'd given us a flashlight . . ." She sighed sadly,  
  
"I've got one . . ."  
  
Yukiko jumped at the sly voice that had come from the shadows. She turned sharply, glaring into the darkness,  
  
"Who . . . who's there?!" She demanded, trying in vain to stop her voice from shaking. A tall boy with a number one hair cut stepped from the darkness, his eyes glinting wickedly, "Hi . . ." She breathed, her fist tightening against her chest, "Is that your weapon?" She asked, stepping forwards slightly,  
  
"No."  
  
"Then how did you,"  
  
"Found it." Hi Ike answered quickly, "This is my weapon . . ." He said casually, drawing a katana slowly from his belt, "Quite . . . sharp . . . huh . . .?"  
  
"Ye . . . yeah . . ." Yukiko gulped and took a step back, eyeing the blade cautiously,  
  
"What's your weapon, Yukiko?" Hi asked, following her, matching her steps.  
  
Yukiko held up her knife and smiled slightly. Hi only smirked,  
  
"Betcha don't know how to use that, Yuki." He chuckled,  
  
"I . . . I don't want to know!" She began to sob,  
  
"Oh, shhhhh," He soothed, edging forwards, wrapping his arms around her waist,  
  
"I just wanna go home!" She choked, digging her fingers into his blazer in search for comfort,  
  
"Shhhhh," He whispered, "It'll all be over soon . . ."  
  
She pulled back slightly, large glassy eyes peering up into his face, frowning slightly,  
  
"You know a way out?"  
  
"There is only one way out of this game, Yukiko." He gave her a psychotic yet toothy grin and in a flash, Yukiko was backed against the main wall, pressed into children's paintings and drawings with the thin blade of Hi's katana against her delicate throat,  
  
"The torch," She spat, "You didn't find it . . . did you . . .?!"  
  
"Nope." He grinned slightly, "Well . . . in a way, I suppose that I did . . ." He continued, tapping his chin in thought, "Ya see . . . I FOUND it in Satsuki's hand . . ."  
  
"S . . . Satsuki . . .?" Yukiko stammered, "YOU BASTARD!"  
  
"Now . . . how do you know that I killed Satsuki?"  
  
"BECAUSE YOU'RE A MONSTER!" She screamed, darting from his grip, under his arm and towards the door,  
  
"There you go, just like always, Yukiko, avoiding your problems!" He sneered, "Suguru's little buddy . . . no body harm his little friend, am I right?"  
  
He darted forwards, slashing at her with his katana, drawing blood as it sliced through her blazer and shirt, cutting her across the stomach. She winced and doubled over slightly, holding onto her bleeding stomach,  
  
"NO!" She screeched, grabbing the teacher's heavy leather chair and rolling it towards Hi. He caught its back in a tight grip and pushed at its base with his foot, sending it hurting towards her. It hit her square in the centre of her back as she scrambled for the door, knocking her over and pinning her beneath it. Advancing slowly, her grabbed her loosening ponytail pulling her head right back,  
  
"Bye bye, little Yukiko." He snickered, slicing the blade delicately across her throat.  
  
She gurgled slightly before collapsing into a widening puddle of thick, crimson blood. He smirked, wiping his soiled blade on the thick leather of the chair back and bent to pick up the butchers knife which Yukiko had dropped in their scuffle. He admired it before collecting Yukiko's bottles of water and chocolate bar before dumping them into his own bag and leaving, a satisfied smirk on his face as in his mind, he relieved his triumphant leap from the roof of an allotment shed onto Satsuki Chiba, slicing her practically vertically in half as she stopped to check her map.  
  
As he stepped outside, still twirling his blade happily in his fingers, he looked up and down the path. As he turned around to head in the direction which led even further into the island, he came face to face with Masaru,  
  
"Oh, hello!" Hi greeted, "I thought you left little Yukiko all alone!" He snickered, "Well . . . I suppose you still can have your little girly conversation . . . I mean . . . what's left of her probably has about the same amount of intelligence as the old Yukiko . . ."  
  
"You always were a jerk." Masaru sneered,  
  
"Now, Masaru . . . dear Masaru . . . that hurts me . . . I was expecting you to scream and lunge drunkenly at me . . . oh well . . . if we must do this the hard way . . ." Hi sighed heavily, rolling his eyes.  
  
Before Masaru had time to react, Hi had skilfully thrown the butchers knife which he had acquired only minutes before hand directly at Masaru, which had landed square between his eyes. Masaru stumbled backwards, his hands twitching open and closed as he reached up shakily, staging backwards, he fell over, his limbs still moving in short, sharp motions. Hi towered over Masaru, smirking as he raised his Katana over her head before bringing it down into the school's most popular boy's chest. It pieced his uniform and skin easily. Hi gritted his teeth as he heard the metal scrape bone and with a sadistic smirk, after firmly impaling Masaru into the ground, he removed his blade and the knife, rubbing it clean on his trouser leg. Happy with his kill so far, Hi continued his trek deeper into the Forrest, picking up Masaru's bag enroute.  
  
Girls #4 Satsuki Chiba, #8 Yukiko Nakagawa, Boys #1 Masaru Hijikata dead. 37 to go.  
  
- - -  
  
Shivering, huddled under a kitchen sink, somewhere in the town that surrounded the high school base, Paige Stevenson sobbed into her bare knees,  
  
"I'm so cold . . ." She stammered, looking disgustedly at her weapon which she clutched in her hand, "Did they think this was some sort of joke?!" She growled, glaring at the pointed rock in her hand,  
  
"P . . . Paige . . . is that you?!"  
  
The American transfer student looked up to see Ai Takami enter the room, blocking the moonlight,  
  
"Paige, please tell me that's you!" Ai called shakily.  
  
Paige crawled out from under the sink and met Ai full in the face,  
  
"What do YOU want?!" She growled,  
  
"Please Paige . . ." She began pathetically, "I never wanted to upset you . . . I know that I was always a bitch to you, I'm sorry . . . I never really meant it! Honest!" The girl stammered, "But . . . look . . . we can help each other out, right?"  
  
Paige tilted her head to one side. Ai did look genuine enough. The terror in her eye and the pale tint of her skin would be hard to fake, by even the most talented of actresses and Paige knew from experience that Ai was a terrible liar,  
  
"What's you weapon?" Paige asked, sighing,  
  
"This!" Ai looked proud as she produced a tracker,  
  
"What about your friends?" Paige asked, raising a slender Auburn eyebrow,  
  
"Yoko and Mimarin are no where in sight . . . besides . . . Yoko already told me that she's playing for real. Mimarin was the last to be let out. She's girl #20!" Ai confirmed knowledgably, "Please Paige . . . let's be friends!" She beamed with over enthusiasm, "We can help one another out! Look out for one another! Figure this all out!"  
  
Paige sighed but nodded regardless,  
  
"Did you hear that scream awhile ago?" Paige asked quietly,  
  
"Yeah . . ." Ai sighed, straitening her short skirt as she slumped beside Paige against a cabinet,  
  
"I think . . . I think that it was Satsuki . . ."  
  
"Satsuki?" Ai furrowed her brow,  
  
"Yeah. Satsuki Chiba. She was my friend. I sat next to her on the bus. You wouldn't know her though, she was one of the 'little people'." Paige sneered,  
  
"Oh . . . Chiba . . . yeah . . . now I know . . . Yoko used to call her 'Chubby Chiba' . . . I never said it though."  
  
"It was because of your friend Yoko that Satsuki almost died."  
  
"I'm sorry Paige, for everything, I mean!" Ai sobbed, "I only did it to protect myself! Being tough helps me block out the real world!"  
  
"I know it does . . . but sometimes it just isn't right . . ." Paige sighed, fingering her weapon slowly.  
  
- - -  
  
"Are you sure that this is the right thing to do . . .?"  
  
"Yes . . ." Replied a voice hesitantly.  
  
Shizuka Yadate and Yasunari Konishi stood beneath a large tree, Shizuka leaning against the thick, heavy trunk holding a pistol loosely in her hand, looking up at Yasunari, her boyfriend,  
  
"I'm not so sure, Shiz-chan." Yasunari whispered softly, taking her hand in his, "Surely, we can fight this."  
  
"No. There is no fighting it." She answered calmly, "I'll do it for you. It'll be over soon."  
  
Yasunari closed his eyes and knelt before her, letting her press the barrel of the gun against his forehead. Slowly, she squeezed the trigger, letting him fall to the floor in a bloody mess. She pulled the gun back steadily and looked at it with intrigue. After several minutes she stood and smirked,  
  
"Men are weak." She said aloud, stepping backwards, still staring at the remains of her dead boyfriend before bending and placing his grenade in her bag and moving off through the trees to continue her quest.  
  
Boys #6 Yasunari Konishi dead. 36 to go.  
  
- - -  
  
"Jun! Don't!"  
  
"COME ON YOU BASTARD! OWN UP!" Jun Oochi screamed, digging his foot deep into his victim's stomach,  
  
"Jun, please don't!" Tommoyo pleaded, grabbing his arm, "Just leave him! He can't hurt us! He has no weapon!"  
  
"Do you think I believe that?!" Jun sneered, kicking Toshio Nishi once again as he lay on the ground, "C'mon you bastard! I know that you know a way outta this!"  
  
Tommoyo was forced to release Jun's arm as she stepped back towards the group of six that stood behind her. Two girls; Hikaru Aoki and Ami Tenkawa along with four boys; Tetsuya Kon, Tadashi Hiraga, Akito Onizuka and Shinji Nishio.  
  
Shinji shook his head and heaved his bag onto his shoulder,  
  
"I can't take this anymore." He muttered to Tetsuya, "I'm gonna go find everyone else. Suguru and Kensuke for a start! Together they'll never take us down!"  
  
Jun turned and directed his machine gun towards Shinji's head,  
  
"Take one more step Nishio and I'll shoot!"  
  
"What do you think I'm gonna do, Jun?!" Shinji exclaimed, "You're my friend and I'm not going to attack you in the middle of the night! Let me go and find the others!"  
  
"No."  
  
"Paranoia is a cruel mistress." Shinji muttered, dropping his bag and held up his hands in defeat, "Ami . . ." He looked at the girl with anger, "Can't you do something?"  
  
"Like what?!" Ami snapped before huffing and folding her arms, "I'm as useless as you are!"  
  
Shinji rolled his eyes at the pure stubbornness of his friend whilst Jun turned back towards Toshio, who had managed to crawl several feet in the time that the friends had been arguing,  
  
"HEY! That just proves it!" He muttered, "YOU'RE GUILTY!" He screamed, running forwards, pointing at Toshio who cowered beneath a bush. As Jun marched towards the terrified teenage boy he reached into his discarded bag and pulled out something heavy and dark. Within a matter of seconds, Jun was stopped in his tracks, his body riddled with bullets, landing among the mud with a loud, harsh 'splat'. Toshio threw his gun onto the ground and shuffled backwards whimpering loudly, his eyes moving from the freshly used machine gun to the now dead body of Jun Oochi,  
  
"Shit," Shinji whispered in disbelief, blinking in a double take,  
  
"No way . . ." Muttered Akito.  
  
All of a sudden, the bowl-cut head of Tadashi Hiraga charged forwards, his Ninja Stars held tightly in his grasp,  
  
"YAH!" He screamed as he threw two under the bush. They flipped sideways in the air, one catching the base of Toshio's spine, the other nipping at his neck. Tadashi threw the third and it skimmed the bottom of Toshio's left, sock clad foot, his brown school loafer strewn somewhere in the bush,  
  
"AH!" He screeched, grabbing his foot and spine as Tadashi continued to charge forwards, now followed by Tetsuya Kon, his best friend, who was waving his megaphone over his head,  
  
"BASTARD!" Tetsuya yelled as Tadashi grabbed the machine gun and reached under the bush, grabbing Toshio's bad foot, dragging him out from under the dead plant. Toshio's cried as he clawed in the dirt, trying desperately to escape Tadashi and Tetsuya, who were waiting for him once he was fully revealed,  
  
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" He pleaded, shielding his face as the pair bore down upon him,  
  
"SORRY WON'T BRING HIM BACK!"  
  
"MURDERER!"  
  
"GET HIM!" Hikaru screamed, balling her fists and stamping her foot,  
  
"No!" Ami cried, "Just let him go! Don't lower yourself to his standards!"  
  
"Are you kidding?!" Hikaru growled, "He'll come back and get the rest of us if we let him go!"  
  
Ami blinked, tears trickling down her cheeks,  
  
"This is horrible!" She sobbed, withdrawing against Shinji slightly. Shinji grit his teeth and turned away, holding Ami's head against his chest and burying his face in her shoulder-length hair,  
  
"Don't look." He whispered.  
  
Akito gasped as Tetsuya began to bring his megaphone down in hard blows. After six or seven heavy hits with the heavy end of his 'weapon' and the handle of his own machine gun, Toshio's screams began to quieten. A few more hits from both and Toshio fell silent. The two boys gave him a few more hits for good measure before turning away. Tadashi wiped a splash of blood from his cheek and Tetsuya from his eye. They rubbed blood soaked hands on their black uniform trousers and regarded their onlookers with psychotic satisfaction,  
  
"An eye for an eye," Tetsuya muttered,  
  
"A tooth for a tooth." Tadashi finished as they made their way slowly towards the others. Tommoyo was on her knees, her long, dyed crimson hair hung all around in ringlets, hiding her face as she sobbed into her hands,  
  
"Jun . . ." She sobbed as Hikaru's arms went around her shoulders,  
  
"It's alright . . . he's in danger no longer . . ." Hikaru soothed, "And the boys got revenge . . ."  
  
Tommoyo sobbed louder, pushing Hikaru's arms off of her back and making a disgruntled screech, she stood and stormed off, grabbing her bag as she did so. The others watched after her before Akito sighed heavily,  
  
"Someone should go after her," He huffed, heaving his bag onto his shoulder, "It's not safe for her to be out there on her own."  
  
Shinji nodded in mute agreement,  
  
"I'll go with you. We might see the others."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"C . . . can I come too . . .?" Ami whispered shakily,  
  
"Yeah," Shinji chuckled, gently touching her chin, "Of course you can. Find Yuki?"  
  
Ami grinned, sometimes Shinji knew her too well. It was natural for Ami to reach out for Yukiko at times like this, friends since they were babies; Yukiko was always the most fearless of the pair. Tadashi and Tetsuya glared at them,  
  
"What ever happened to safety in numbers?!" Tadashi growled,  
  
"Well . . . you successfully scared the crap outta Tommoyo!" Akito snapped,  
  
"Watch it!" Tetsuya muttered,  
  
"I think that megaphone's gone to your head!" He snorted,  
  
"We got this now, haven't we?" Tadashi said as he held up Toshio's machine gun,  
  
"Well, we're off to make sure that Tommoyo is alright and find everyone else!"  
  
"Yeah! Like Suguru and Yukiko! And Masaru, c'mon Hikaru! I bet he's looking for you!" Ami chime in.  
  
Hikaru avoided her glare and Ami narrowed her eyes,  
  
"Don't you wanna find Masaru?"  
  
"No . . ."  
  
"Why not?!"  
  
"Because it's too scary out there! To go wondering around would be stupid!"  
  
"But you love him!" Ami huffed, "Wouldn't you do anything for him?"  
  
Hikaru avoided the question, looking away again,  
  
"Fine!" Akito sighed, "C'mon guys, let's go!"  
  
"Tadashi!" Tetsuya exclaimed,  
  
"Let them go." Tadashi said wisely, "Get Jun's weapon."  
  
Tetsuya nodded and knelt beside Tetsuya, reaching into his pocket, he pulled out Jun's compass,  
  
"Looks like he lucked out."  
  
"We all did." Tadashi chuckled, "Not anymore though!"  
  
"YEAH!" The other two agreed happily as Tadashi pumped the machine gun in the air triumphantly.  
  
Boys #11 Toshio Nishi, #15 Jun Oochi, 34 to go.  
  
- - -  
  
Suguru huffed as he walked beside Kensuke; they clambered up a muddy bank at the base of a hill, struggling to get to somewhere safe for the night.  
  
Whirling around at the sound of gun shots and screams, Kensuke lost his grip. He let out a small, startled scream as his feet struggled for grip, but he continued to slip, falling backwards. All of a sudden, Suguru grabbed his wrist tightly; skin slapping against skin startled birds in the trees that surrounded them. The squawked and flapped at the disturbance,  
  
"Jesus!" Kensuke gasped, clasping his chest as Suguru pulled him up onto a ledge, "Thanks, man." He sighed,  
  
"No problem." Suguru answered modestly,  
  
"Seriously, I coulda died from that fall."  
  
"It's alright. How about here? It's pretty high up and outta the way."  
  
"Yeah, this should be alright." Kensuke nodded, reaching into his bag and puling out a stake loaf of bread, "Hmmmm . . . appetizing!" He scoffed, taking a bite out of it,  
  
"I hope everyone's alright." Suguru murmured, staring into the darkness,  
  
"Yuki?"  
  
"Yeah . . . Paige . . ."  
  
"Yeah . . ." Kensuke smirked, "How'd ya figure . . .?"  
  
"I just know you too well!" Suguru grinned, winking slightly.  
  
The pair fell silent, soon after falling asleep on the small ledge.  
  
- - - To be continued . . .  
  
Phew . . . my chapters are getting longer . . . if it's a problem, let me know and I'll break them up!  
  
Thanks for reading! Please RnR! 


	3. Losing Faith

Sorry . . . still don't own it! I hate to disappoint!  
  
Hello everyone! Wow . . . 5 reviews! I'm really proud of myself! I know that only 5 isn't much to be proud of . . . but considering the fic type, I think that's blood good! I wanna say thank you all for reading and reviewing! Your comments all mean so much to me! I'm happy that you enjoy the story!  
  
Oh, to 'The 18th Angel' I just wanted to say that, yeah, I know that Noriko had a brother and I understand where you're coming from, but in Chapter 1 (or 2 on Fanfiction.net) Yuki mentions her older brother, I just thought it's be cool to have a sister as well! Family are fun! I'm glad that you paid so much attention to it!  
  
Anthony, I'm glad that you reviewed me again! Yay! I wrote a special bit in here about Shizuka for you . . . it give a bit more of an insight to my character.  
  
Battle Royale 2 is going to screen in England this year! ::jumps about:: Wooh! Ok . . . yes . . . I had my moment, and I hope that you enjoy! Keep on commenting! I appreciate it VERY much! ::huggles::  
  
Battle Royale: The Final Bout.  
  
By Bubblegum Thai.  
  
Chapter Two. Losing faith.  
  
"Good morning sleepyheads! Yes! It's 6am! Time to wake up, ready for your first ever update!" Mr. Sato's voice drifted across the island from loud speakers up high above the terrain, "Now, let's get down to business. The list of your now deceased classmates, in order that they died." Mr. Sato cleared his throat, holding the list in front of his face; "Girls #4 Satsuki Chiba, #8 Yukiko Nakagawa, Boys #1 Masaru Hijikata, #6 Yasunari Konishi, #11 Toshio Nishi, #15 Jun Oochi. That's a total of 6. You've done good so far. Keep going, now . . . the danger zones . . ."  
  
Kensuke whipped his map out from his blazer where it hung around his neck, beginning to mark on the map with a felt tip pen. He glanced up at Suguru, his eyes softening from anger to sadness when he caught sight of his best friend,  
  
"Suguru . . ." He whispered softly,  
  
"She was my best friend . . . Kensuke . . ." He choked, kneeling on the edge of the ledge that the two had spent the night on, tears brimmed thickly in his eyes, tumbling down his cheeks clumsily, "I . . . I shoulda protected her . . ."  
  
Kensuke glowered as he turned his head, Mr. Sato bidding good luck and farewell for another 6 hours. He crawled to his friend, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder,  
  
"Suguru . . ." He breathed, "You couldn't have done anything . . ."  
  
"Yes! I could!" Suguru growled, "I could've waited for her! Helped her! Protected her! Now she's gone, but I'm still here! I don't deserve to be!" He muttered bitterly, "I don't deserve to live . . ."  
  
Kensuke looked at his hands and sighed heavily,  
  
"We should find the others . . . here just has to be a way off of this island." Kensuke sighed sadly, looking up at Suguru again, "Suguru, man, please . . . be strong . . . be strong for us. For the others. We need you. We'll be lost without you! We need you to stay calm and coherent! Please Suguru!" Kensuke pleaded, "We need to get going . . . I . . . I know it hurts to lost someone . . . but . . . but please . . ." Kensuke whimpered.  
  
Suguru looked up, narrowing his eyes slightly,  
  
"If I ever find out who did it, I'll return the favour." He said simply, picking up his bag and rising to his feet. He looked up, five metres or so til the top of the cliff, "We can probably climb that pretty easy, don't you think?" He asked quietly, looking over at Kensuke who gently pulled back some loose strands of spiked hair from his eye,  
  
"Yeah . . ."  
  
Throwing the strap of his cross bow over his shoulder, Kensuke grabbed a firmly planted looking rock in the cliff face and another slightly higher, pulling himself up, he then got a foot hold and began to scale the cliff face, Suguru following slowly behind him.  
  
- - -  
  
Shizuka Yadate strolled down an overgrown pathway, her head tilted to one side with her bag slung over her shoulder. She stopped dead in her tracks at the sound of voices from somewhere overhead. Glancing up, she caught the sight of two random bobbing heads near the edge of a ledge about 20 minutes up. She mused silently, bouncing her pistol up and down in her hand slowly, thinking,  
  
"Suguru . . . you couldn't have done anything . . ."  
  
Shizuka smirked slightly; Suguru Kamazaki and she recognised the voice to be that of Kensuke Takahashi, the boy with the spiky, scruffy, overgrown hair that sat beside her in Math class. She couldn't help but smile as she thought of his dark eyes and huge grin, flicking hair off of his face as he struggled with equations and decimal points.  
  
Shrugging off the nostalgia, she continued, neither one proposed any major threat to her. Both were considered the 'sweetest' guys in the class. No killer instinct what so ever. She followed the winding path, her white blouse spattered with Yasunari's blood. Ahead she heard screaming strait after a few short gun shots. A female's screams. Then footsteps. Heavy. Panicked. Fast.  
  
She dived behind a nearby bush as a shadow loomed along the path in the early morning sun. Soon a figure slowed along the path beside her and she silently cursed. It was that of Daisuke Okawa, a small silver hand gun loosely in his palm. He stopped in front of her bush, leaning over, double over his knees which were slightly bent, breathing heavily. He glanced back along the path guiltily before standing slowly and continuing almost cautiously, his bag slung over his shoulder carelessly.  
  
Shizuka waited a few minutes before venturing out from behind the bush. She looked down the path in the direction that Daisuke had disappeared down and tightening her grip on the pistol which she'd been given as her weapon she slowly advanced down the path in the direction that she'd been heading originally.  
  
After a few short steps and a corner turned she found a small house with a well standing proud in front. Sprawled around the base of the well were three bodies. The first was a girl, Osayo Asagi. Her throat had been slit wide open, presumably with the small hand scythe which lay beside her covered in the sticky, red liquid which had flooded the small courtyard.  
  
Picking her way cautiously across the large puddle to the crumpled form next to her to find the bullet ridden body of Ryouji Miyano. Clasping his hand tightly was Reiko Sumisawa who was breathing heavy and writhing in agony. She rolled slightly and opened her eyes a crack to stare up into the face of Shizuka, her eyes full of twisted pain, her free hand clasping at her blood stained blouse,  
  
"Shiz . . . zu . . . ka . . ." Reiko gasped, her hand tightening against her stomach slightly, "I hoped I'd find you . . ." She coughed slightly, blood splattering against the collar of her shirt.  
  
Shizuka dropped to her knees beside the girl, splashing in the blood which went up her legs and knees,  
  
"Reiko!" She whispered,  
  
"You . . . you're hurt . . ."  
  
"No. I'm fine." Shizuka shook her head sadly, "It's Yasunari's blood."  
  
Reiko frowned and coughed again,  
  
"Yaz . . .?" She whispered hoarsely, "But, why? Who?"  
  
"It doesn't matter." Shizuka whispered, "I'm sorry I wasn't here."  
  
Reiko smiled slightly her eyes beginning to slip shut,  
  
"I'm just glad that I got to see you one last time . . . be . . . before . . . y'know . . ."  
  
"Don't talk like that!" Shizuka growled,  
  
"C'mon Shiz!" Reiko croaked, her face contorting in yet more pain. Arching backwards she made a slight gurgling sound as a few small crimson bubbles popped against her already blood-stained lips. Shizuka grabbed for her friend's free hand as she quickly fell back onto the blood soaked patio, her entire uniform becoming drenched in the liquid,  
  
"Rei'?" Shizuka whispered, "REI'?!" She repeated; more desperate this time, yet no reply came. Gasping she released the girl's hand quickly, shuffling backwards as she flipped from her knees to her behind, her hands and feet running backwards along the ground until she hit the outer wall of the building, which she discovered to be a rather small temple. She jumped up and whirled around, her shoes completely under the blood, her mouth open as she gaped up the stairs. In a sudden burst of energy, she ran up the steps at full speed, breaking through the doors and fell to her knees dramatically, "Forgive me!" She whimpered, lowering her head, "Forgive me for hurting Yasunari . . . forgive me for not being here for Reiko . . . forgive me for what I've done!"  
  
"You bring dishonour to your family."  
  
Shizuka stood and glowered at the doorway, the light from outside now blocked by a large presence,  
  
"Who's there?!" She gasped, narrowing her eyes,  
  
"Hiroshi. Where's Yasunari." He replied coldly.  
  
Shizuka narrowed her eyes at Hiroshi Tekuka but her attention became distracted as she noticed the bloody scythe which was slightly hidden behind him,  
  
"He's dead." She snapped,  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because he couldn't handle the pressure. That's why!" She snapped back in response. Hiroshi smirked slightly before continuing,  
  
"Did you kill him, Shizuka?"  
  
"No! Why do you think I killed him?"  
  
"That's his blood on your shirt, isn't it?"  
  
"Yeah, so? That doesn't necessarily mean that I killed him."  
  
"What about Reiko? Did you kill her too?"  
  
"I didn't kill anyone!" Shizuka lied, balling her fists slightly, "Why're you accusing me? You're just as guilty as I am! Standing there with a scythe behind you!"  
  
Hiroshi bought the sharp implement out from behind his back and eyed it wickedly. Smirking evilly,  
  
"Wonderful things, these are. Very useful. You can get right behind your enemy whilst the curve provides an excellent angle to slit a throat."  
  
Realisation gripped Shizuka with force,  
  
"Osayo!" She growled, "And Ryouji too?! Reiko?!"  
  
"No. You see . . . little Osayo came out of the temple, as you can see; their bags are al laid here. They were obviously camping here. Fools. It's pretty open. But, anyway, this morning I was just, y'know, strolling along when I heard a soft humming sound. At first I thought that it was Yoko so I got ready to teach that slimy bitch a lesson. However, I found it to be Osayo. Stupid girl had put her weapon down to get water out. It was so simple. In one quick motioned I had her in my arms and she was slipping from them gasping at the air as all oxygen left her body. It was rather entertaining. But, before I could advance, that prat Ryouji decided to come and see how she was doing. I hid; I didn't know what weapon he had! But . . . he appeared to be unarmed. He found her, but he didn't say anything. Just stood there, his hands bloody from examining her body. I'd dumped this thing when Id' heard his voice. I cursed myself thinking that he'd have the smarts to grab it in defence, but instead he just stood there with it by his feet, looking guilty. Eventually Reiko ventured out and badda Bing, badda boom, blames Ryouji for the reason that Osayo is lying dead there on the floor. Whilst all the time I sat there and laughed quietly to myself. Her paranoia must've taken over because she charged at him with her knife. Somehow, in the confusion he must've turned it on her because she ended up with a huge gaping wound in her stomach. Oh dear." He tilted his head to the side at this point, "Poor Reiko." He sighed, "Killed by her own Boyfriend." He smirked slightly, "Ryouji just stammered pathetic apologies and tears and he grabbed her trying to help her . . . bless . . ." He continued dryly,  
  
"What about Daisuke?! I saw him running away from here! He must've helped you kill Ryouji!"  
  
"Ah yes . . . Daisuke . . . well . . . he was a pleasant little surprise, now, wasn't he?" Hiroshi grinned more to himself than to Shizuka,  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Well, as Reiko and Ryouji began to whisper sweet nothings to one another, Daisuke decided to come along the path," Hiroshi grinned happily as he relived the moment in his head, telling Shizuka as he did so;  
  
Daisuke began to tug at his tie as he turned the corner, he didn't even know why he was still wearing the damn thing. As he turned he arrived at the Well Shrine. Standing beside the well were two of his classmates, Ryouji Miyano who he played baseball with and Ryouji's girlfriend, Reiko Sumisawa,  
  
"Hey guys!" He greeted, happy to see friendly faces at last. All of a sudden he stopped in his tracks. His eyes focussed on the corpse of Osayo who lay at their feet. Paranoid eyes shakily looked up and looked at Ryouji who now looked suspicious. Perhaps he wasn't hugging Reiko; perhaps he was trying to keep her still. That was when he noticed the large wound in her stomach, "You . . ." He whispered, pointing a quivering index finger at the tall boy, with large spikes and light brown eyes,  
  
"I can explain . . ." Ryouji whimpered wearily but Daisuke was already beginning to reach for his small yet useful handgun.  
  
With one quick movement, Daisuke had let off several bullets and Ryouji was on the floor beside Osayo. Reiko screamed loudly,  
  
"NO!" She screamed, eyes wild, "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!"  
  
Daisuke frowned,  
  
"I thought that I was . . ."  
  
"He didn't do it . . . it's not his fault!" She sobbed,  
  
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Daisuke stammered, stepping back as Reiko dropped to her knees, grabbing Ryouji's hand,  
  
"Ryouji! Ryouji-kun! Speak to me! Please!" She begged, "BASTARD!" She screamed, looking up at Daisuke again. Daisuke gasped loudly and began to stammer backwards. He turned and ran away from the scene,  
  
"I'm so . . . so . . .sor . . .ry . . .Rei' . . ." Ryouji stammered.  
  
She smiled softly, curling up beside him, cringing as pain pulled in her gut,  
  
"Me too . . ."  
  
Ryouji fell silent whilst Reiko whispered his name repeatedly, waiting for a response.  
  
Fresh tears began to well in Shizuka's eyes as Hiroshi repeated the story with perfect details,  
  
"And then you came along and I watched the last of my handy work. I figured, 'Eh, one more won't hurt'. So, be a dear and don't struggle. This will only take a second . . ."  
  
"NO!" Shizuka screeched, jumping up and kicking against Hiroshi's legs. Hiroshi growled as he stumbled backwards slightly before charging forwards, wielding the scythe madly. He grinned manically as he brought it down upon her. Unfortunately for him, he missed, breaking through the wooden wall of the temple. As he struggle to pull it out, it brought away a good portion of the wall, it fell to the ground, causing a large dust cloud. In the confusion, Shizuka dived through the hole and into the next room, where a large window had been left open. With amazing stealth she launched herself onto the window sill and off into the forest,  
  
"COME BACK!" Hiroshi yelled as Shizuka disappeared into the forest, "BITCH!"  
  
Girls #3 Osayo Asagi, #12 Reiko Sumisawa, Boys #9 Ryouji Miyano dead. 31 to go.  
  
- - -  
  
Tommoyo had successfully wedged herself into a small slit in the side of a rock face. The problem now was that she was stuck. Silently she cursed as she continued to wriggle, attempting to free herself. After several long minutes, she gave up, resigning to defeat and falling back against the jagged cliff face. She began to sob into her knees, sniffling slightly,  
  
"It's so unfair!" She muttered, "Why us? Why me? I'm not cut out for this survival shit!" She growled, kicking at the mud in a temper tantrum,  
  
"Tommoyo?"  
  
"Akito? Akito, is that you?!" Tommoyo called back,  
  
"Are you alright?"  
  
"I'm stuck!"  
  
"Hold on! I'm coming!" Within mere seconds, Akito burst through the overgrowth followed by Shinji and Ami. They all looked pleased and relieved to see her,  
  
"Oh there you are!" Ami sighed happily, "We looked for you all night!" She continued you giggle, her eyes rimmed with red,  
  
"I'm sorry I stormed off guys! But, I'm stuck!" She whined as Akito knelt beside her. He grabbed her hands and pulled. She popped out quite easily but winced as pain coursed through her sides and hips, "It seemed like a good idea at the time." She said, shrugging half heartedly,  
  
"Did you hear the reports?" Shinji asked his face deadly serious.  
  
Fear struck Tommoyo as she shook her head. Ami now clutched to Shinji's arm tightly, sobbing into his blazer sleeve,  
  
"Masaru, Satsuki and Yukiko." Akito breathed, his entire posture shifting to one of forlorn,  
  
"Oh," Tommoyo raised her hand to her face nervously, tears beginning to well once again in her eyes, "Any . . . anyone else . . .?" She whispered hoarsely,  
  
"Yasunari Konishi plus Jun and Toshio."  
  
Tommoyo nodded silently, the four of them all not knowing where to look. Shinji was the first to speak, his eyes dim with sadness yet a spark of determination flared up,  
  
"We have to find the others. We're safer as a group."  
  
"We thought that last time and look where it's gotten us." Tommoyo mumbled quietly, "The four of us our in an even smaller group and Jun is dead!"  
  
"I know, but that was Jun's own fault!" Shinji replied,  
  
"Jun . . ." Tommoyo whimpered, more tears beginning to roll down her pink cheeks, "He didn't deserve to die! He'd never done anything wrong before last night! It's this game! It turned him into a monster!"  
  
"I know it does, but we've gotta fight it!" Ami suddenly yelled,  
  
"We need to think of a way to escape. Get everyone together and think! If we haven't beat this thing after 72 hours then we're all dead!" Akito sighed wisely,  
  
"Then we're all dead. There's no way of beating this! The Government designed it!" Tommoyo panicked,  
  
"They're not so smart!" Shinji answered,  
  
"If it means that we don't murder anyone then I welcome death!" Ami snapped, "I'd rather die all together in innocence than kill my friends to survive!"  
  
Tommoyo nodded in agreement,  
  
"Then let's go. We have to try, at least." Akito pointed towards the South, "Let's head that way. We need to find Suguru and Kensuke; they must be out there somewhere."  
  
The foursome began to make their way steadily through the thicket. Tommoyo walking ahead, alongside Akito whilst Shinji and Ami brought up the rear,  
  
"Shinji, will you trade weapons with me?" Ami asked nervously,  
  
"Why? What did you get?"  
  
"Nun Chucks and I don't know how to use them. What about you?"  
  
"I got a whip." He snorted, "Nun Chucks are simple enough to use."  
  
"That's easy for you to say!" She snapped, jokingly, "You've trained with these before! When I pulled them out of my bag at first I thought I'd been given a saucepan handle!"  
  
Shinji grinned at the sheer naivety of the girl beside him,  
  
"Alright Ami, I'll swap with you. I can protect you better that way."  
  
Ami blushed, lowering her face to the ground,  
  
"Y'know . . ." She whispered, "Yukiko always liked you."  
  
"She did? I thought that she was Suguru's girl?" Shinji smirked,  
  
"They were only friends. We've all known each other forever, or, at least, it seems that way." Ami smiled slightly, "But they were never more than friends. I don't think that either one wanted that."  
  
Shinji tilted his head to one side,  
  
"Yukiko was great, but, she wasn't the girl for me."  
  
Ami smiled warmly as the group continued through the forest.  
  
- - -  
  
Yoko Fugunagi approached the cliff edge, a maniacal look in her eyes as she advanced onto a smaller girl with long, curly dark hair, copper highlights shimmering in the morning light,  
  
"This game's not so fun when it's you that's being hunted, is it? Mimarin?" She said with an evil smirk, continuing to advance on her former friend,  
  
"Wh . . . what are you doing, Yoko?" Mimarin whimpered towards the girl, a slight breeze blowing her uniform slightly, causing the black and white uniform to sway dramatically,  
  
"What does it look like?"  
  
"You wouldn't dare!" Mimarin snapped back to her friend, "You wouldn't DARE!" She screamed, lunging forwards, grabbing her friend by the shoulder.  
  
The pair began to struggle, pulling at hair and clothing, blouses were ripped and their feet slipped on the mud as they stumbled around, making small screaming sounds. They stumbled closer towards the cliff edge, Mimarin losing her footing and slipping partially over the cliff edge. The rock crumbled beneath her feet and she slipped down, gripping onto Yoko's hands tightly,  
  
"Help me! Yoko!" She begged, clawing at the remains of her friend's sleeves, "PLEASE!"  
  
Yoko grinned slightly and tried to pull her hands away,  
  
"NO!" Mimarin screamed, placing her feet against the rock face and leaning back, pulling Yoko towards her. The pair tumbled over the edge, plummeting towards the rocks below.  
  
Girls #5 Yoko Fugunagi, #20 Mimarin Yasushiko dead. 29 to go.  
  
- - -  
  
"Good afternoon! Sit down, take a break, have some lunch . . ." Mr. Sato chuckled into the microphone, looking down at the piece of paper in front of him, "I have before me the list of the last six hours worth of fatalities." He began to trace over the names with his eyes, scanning the text quickly and with a smirk began to speak again, "Ok, in order that they died . . . Girls #3 Osayo Asagi, #12 Reiko Sumisawa, Boys #9 Ryouji Miyano, Girls #5 Yoko Fugunagi, #20 Mimarin Yasushiko. That's 5 in total . . . hmmm . . . for six hours worth of work, that's not too bad . . . however . . . at this rate, you're all going to explode! Now, for the danger zones . . ."  
  
- - -  
  
Paige, who was still hiding in the small kitchen-ette with Ai, jotted down the new danger zones and looked at Ai with a soft smile,  
  
"Even though my friends have died . . . and I know that I'm going to die too . . . I still live in the hope that we'll make it through this . . . with Kensuke . . ." She said warmly.  
  
Ai smiled back and nodded, until her tracked began to beep,  
  
"Paige!" She hissed, "Someone's coming!"  
  
"Who?!" Paige asked, running and grabbing a sharp slither of glass that she'd found and her sharpened rock,  
  
"Boys # 3!" Ai replied, looking to the sky hurriedly, "I don't know who that is!" She sobbed, running on the spot in a panic,  
  
"It's . . . it's . . ." Paige struggled to remember.  
  
The door suddenly opened and Hi Ike stood there grinning madly,  
  
"Hello, ladies!" He grinned, "I could smell you're cooking, got any spare for a weary traveller . . .?"  
  
Ai and Paige exchanged worried glance but agreed due to the pure intimidation that he placed upon them. Hi took a seat at the table in the centre of the room, a satisfied smirk carved onto his lips. He looked at Paige and then at Ai,  
  
"Well . . . women! Serve me my food!" He demanded, slamming a fist onto the table top.  
  
Paige muttered something dark in English and Hi grabbed her wrist,  
  
"WHAT?!" He growled,  
  
"I was just thinking something to myself. Working something out inside of me."  
  
Hi grinned knowingly and winked,  
  
"Oh yeah . . .? What would that be? Thinking about Kensuke . . .?"  
  
Paige gasped and narrowed her eyes,  
  
"Nothing of the sort!" She snapped back.  
  
Hi fished something out of his bag and placed it onto the table in front of him, keeping his hand on the handle of the blood stained blade,  
  
"Who . . . whose bl . . . blood is that . . .?" Ai asked, eyeing it worriedly,  
  
"Hard to say, really." Hi replied with a shrug, "Could be any number of people really . . ."  
  
The pair gasped as he tightened his grip on the handle, Ai shakily placing a bowl of something which resembled soup in front of him,  
  
"You call this food?!" He growled menacingly,  
  
"It's soup . . ." Ai stammered,  
  
"Well . . . I suppose I can't complain . . ." He muttered menacingly, "You never really were much for doing even the simplest of things . . . we were only there for your looks really, weren't you? Probably slept with the principal to pass to the next grade, huh?"  
  
Tears began to well in Ai's eyes and Hi began to sip at the soup gingerly,  
  
"Tastes like shit . . ." He muttered. Paige tightened her grip on her rock, creping forwards silently. She brought it up over her head and brought it down quickly. Hard and fast. She repeated the process until not only blood gushed to the floor but a thick, pink goo also,  
  
"P . . . Paige . . ." Ai stammered, "What . . . what have you done?!" She cried, "You've killed him!" She screeched,  
  
"What do you think he would've done to us, Ai?!" Paige asked, her eyes wild, "At least now we have some more weapons!" She sighed with relief.  
  
Ai began to back up, away from Paige, staring at her accusingly,  
  
"N . . . no . . ."  
  
"Ai . . . it had to be done!" Paige sighed, moving towards Ai who continued to back away until she was against the door,  
  
"No . . . stay away from me!"  
  
"Ai . . ." Paige said, still creeping forwards, "Calm down . . . I had to do it!"  
  
"I SAID NO!" She screeched, thrusting the jagged piece of glass that Paige had found earlier towards the girl.  
  
Paige made a small gurgling sound as the thick, shard of glass was ripped into her ribs. She spluttered, spitting specks of blood onto Ai's face. Ai backed up against the door again, closing her eyes and turning her head away as Paige tried to pull at the glass embedded in her side, tears trickling down the side of her face. She tried to form a coherent sound, trying hard to form her mouth into words until she fell to her knees, falling forwards onto the floor, coughing more blood onto the wooden floor.  
  
Ai watched as Paige was reduced to an unmoving form. Gently, using the back of her sleeve, she wiped the blood from her face, leaving a sly smirk,  
  
"That was easier than I thought . . . obviously, Yoko and Mimarin had NO idea . . ." She declared happily, moving and prising the Katana from Hi. She kicked the blood soaked rock away from her as she riffled through the bag, busying herself with preparations to move on.  
  
Boys #3 Hi Ike, Girls #11 Paige Stevenson dead. 27 to go.  
  
- - -  
  
Mitsumi Hayashi and Matsumi Kanbe ran forwards, hand in hand, splashing through the small waves lapping at the beach towards a large dark cave where a small fire was lit. They fell into the open mouth of the cave, panting and breathing heavily.  
  
A tall boy with shoulder length hair approached them, kneeling before Mitsumi who had gained a thick scar since he'd last seen them,  
  
"What did you find? What did you see?" He asked carefully,  
  
"Oh! Kazuto!" She spluttered, "Oh! It's horrible! A massacre!" She whimpered,  
  
"Who? Where?" He asked inquisitively,  
  
"Up . . . up by the big house, beneath the porch . . . Mari and . . . and . . . Hiroyuki!" She gasped for air.  
  
Kazuto Yamaoka straightened up and took in a deep breath,  
  
"I think that we have to realise that . . . we're never going to survive this . . ." He mumbled sadly, looking back at the trio huddled about the fire side, "We're all going mad . . . there's nothing we can do but wait for someone to come along and . . ."  
  
"Don't say that!" Yurika Tokita pleaded, "We always look to you for guidance!" She growled, standing up, "And now you're just going to give up?!"  
  
"Why not? You don't need me anymore!" He growled, "I am not your father, Yurika! I don't need to protect you!"  
  
"Stop fighting!" Matsumi sobbed, now standing, still gripping Mitsumi's hand as they moved towards the group, "We have to stick together if we want to beat this!"  
  
"Kazuto's right!" Yashiko Yuzuki said as he stood up, running a hand through his scruffy dark brown hair, "We have no hope!"  
  
"DON'T SAY THAT!" The three girls screamed back at him.  
  
At this point, Tsuyoshi Taguchi went to stand, but his sister shook her head, grabbing his arm. Her lower lip tremble and she hugged her brother,  
  
"Tsuyoshi!" She whimpered, "Is what they say true? Is there really no hope?" Tsuki asked.  
  
He gently placed a hand atop of her head,  
  
"Maybe it would be quicker if we just ended it like Mari and Hiroyuki did."  
  
"NO!" Kazuto and Yashiko growled,  
  
"A man who kills himself, taking the cowards route out, has no pride! I will not die that way!"  
  
Tsuki ignored the two boys and looked up at her brother,  
  
"I follow your guidance . . ." She whispered. He nodded but looked up as three figures blocked the sunlight into the cave.  
  
Kazuto shielded his eyes against the glare of the opening, regarding the figures in the opening,  
  
"Kon . . . and Hiraga . . ." He sneered, "What a lovely surprise . . ." He said, looking at their machine gun, "Are you sure that you're even holding that the right way round?" He asked with amusement at the two boys and girl, who had been considered popular,  
  
"I never liked you, Yamaoka . . ." Tetsuya Kon muttered,  
  
"Great! Now that we all know everyone's surnames . . ." Hikaru Aoki giggled wickedly, clapping her hands together, "Let the killing begin . . ." She added, backing up to be protected by Tadashi and Tetsuya.  
  
Tetsuya smirked, releasing the safety from the gun and showering the inside of the cave with machine gun fire. The bullets peppering the darkness with an evil glint, the fire stage raging on in the centre of the cave.  
  
Matsumi and Mitsumi, still clutching onto one another's hands ran towards the back in a desperate attempt to evade the bullets, but were knocked down quickly. Tsuki buried her face into her brother's blazer as Kazuto and Yoshiko also fell to the ground,  
  
"Brother . . ." Tsuki whimpered, her face tight against him,  
  
"Shhhhh . . ." He soothed, closing his eyes too, bracing himself for the pain.  
  
As the smoke cleared, the trio in the opening all smirked, looking at one another proudly. They let the soft waves begin to flood the cave, extinguishing the fire so that it fizzled into nothing but a small puff of smoke.  
  
Girls #1 Mari Aiida, #6 Mitsumi Hayashi, #7 Matsumi Kanbe, #14 Tsuki Taguchi, Boys#7 Hiroyuki Kyogoku, #16Tsuyoshi Taguchi, #19 Kazuto Yamaoka, #20 Yashiko Yazuki dead. 19 to go.  
  
- - - To be continued . . . 


End file.
